The good news for The CW is that this season's lowest-rated show on TV had double the audience of last season's lowest-rated sh... Show More »

The good news for The CW is that this season's lowest-rated show on TV had double the audience of last season's lowest-rated show on TV. Or maybe that's not such good news, since the network still has the lowest-rated show on TV.

As with past seasons, this year's least-watched list includes only airings of shows in their primary timeslot and programs that have aired more than once. And in the spirit of inclusion, we're including the four smallest shows on all five networks.

Viewers: 1.39 millionFall 2009 ranking: 101st (of 101)Fun fact: Executive producer has put the five produced episodes of the show on YouTube with the goal of getting more views online than on the air. The bar is not especially high. « Less

3/21

'Melrose Place' (The CW):

Viewers: 1.74 millionFall 2009 ranking: 100thFun fact: The first season of The CW's version of "Melrose"... Show More »

Viewers: 1.74 millionFall 2009 ranking: 100thFun fact: The first season of The CW's version of "Melrose" is averaging roughly one-eighth the audience of its predecessor, which drew 13.95 million viewers in its first season. « Less

Viewers: 2.38 millionFall 2009 ranking: 99thFun fact: Last season, FOX aired seven episodes before dropping it from the schedule. After an inexplicable renewal of the show, the show was benched after only three episodes this season -- though a two-hour marathon is scheduled for Christmas night, one of the lightest TV nights of the year. « Less

5/21

'90210' (The CW):

Viewers: 2.4 millionFall 2009 ranking: 98thFun fact: This time last season the show was averaging 2.83 million viewer... Show More »

Viewers: 2.4 millionFall 2009 ranking: 98thFun fact: This time last season the show was averaging 2.83 million viewers a week, so it's fallen off by about 15 percent this fall. « Less

6/21

'Brothers' (FOX):

Viewers: 2.52 million on Fridays, 2.54 million on SundaysFall 2009 ranking: 97th (Friday) and 96th (Sunday)Fun fact: ... Show More »

Viewers: 2.52 million on Fridays, 2.54 million on SundaysFall 2009 ranking: 97th (Friday) and 96th (Sunday)Fun fact: For a while, encores of the show on Sundays were doing better than original episodes on Fridays thanks to carryover from afternoon NFL games. An official timeslot switch didn't really help much, though. « Less

7/21

'Gossip Girl' (The CW):

Viewers: 2.6 millionFall 2009 ranking: 95thFun fact: Adjusting to post-high school life has been tough both on ... Show More »

Viewers: 2.6 millionFall 2009 ranking: 95thFun fact: Adjusting to post-high school life has been tough both on screen and in the ratings -- "Gossip Girl" has lost about 500,000 viewers compared to this time last year. « Less

8/21

'Dollhouse' (FOX):

Viewers: 2.74 millionFall 2009 ranking: 93rdFun fact: "Dollhouse" is one of the most DVR'ed shows on TV in term... Show More »

Viewers: 2.74 millionFall 2009 ranking: 93rdFun fact: "Dollhouse" is one of the most DVR'ed shows on TV in terms of percentage of viewers gained, but the extra 800,000 viewers per episode it gained weren't enough to keep it alive. « Less

9/21

'Better Off Ted' (ABC):

Viewers: 3.5 millionFall 2009 ranking: 90thFun fact: The critically hailed "Ted" was a surprise renewal for ABC... Show More »

Viewers: 3.5 millionFall 2009 ranking: 90thFun fact: The critically hailed "Ted" was a surprise renewal for ABC last spring, but any hoped-for new viewers haven't turned up in the first couple of episodes: It's down about a million people compared to its run last spring. « Less

10/21

'Supernanny' (ABC):

Viewers: 4.78 millionFall 2009 ranking: 84thFun fact: "Supernanny" was on this list last year too, when it was aver... Show More »

Viewers: 4.78 millionFall 2009 ranking: 84thFun fact: "Supernanny" was on this list last year too, when it was averaging 4.88 million viewers. « Less

11/21

'Cops' (FOX):

Viewers: 4.79 million

Fall 2009 ranking: 83rd

Fun fact: This ranking is for the 8 p.m. Saturday episode of "Cops." The 8:30... Show More »

Viewers: 4.79 million

Fall 2009 ranking: 83rd

Fun fact: This ranking is for the 8 p.m. Saturday episode of "Cops." The 8:30 episode does a little better with 5.3 million viewers. « Less

12/21

'Scrubs' (ABC):

Viewers: 5.17 millionFall 2009 ranking: 82ndFun fact: The show, which is in its ninth season, is the longest-running li... Show More »

Viewers: 5.17 millionFall 2009 ranking: 82ndFun fact: The show, which is in its ninth season, is the longest-running live-action comedy currently on the air. « Less

Viewers: 5.211 million Fall 2009 ranking: 81stFun fact: For ratings purposes, NBC chops up its Sunday-night NFL pre-game show into three parts. Part 1 is not counted by Nielsen (it's considered "sustaining" -- i.e., no ads), and part 3, much closer to kickoff, averages better than 10 million viewers. « Less

14/21

'Ugly Betty' (ABC):

Viewers: 5.213 millionFall 2009 ranking: 80thFun fact: The move to Fridays hasn't been kind to "Betty," which ... Show More »

Viewers: 5.213 millionFall 2009 ranking: 80thFun fact: The move to Fridays hasn't been kind to "Betty," which is off about 3 million viewers compared to last year. ABC is hoping that will turn around some when the show moves to Wednesdays in February. « Less

15/21

'Parks and Recreation' (NBC):

Viewers: 5.26 millionFall 2009 ranking: 79thFun fact: "Parks'" performance this season is right in l... Show More »

Viewers: 5.26 millionFall 2009 ranking: 79thFun fact: "Parks'" performance this season is right in line with its numbers last spring, when it averaged just under 5.4 million viewers. « Less

Viewers: 5.4 millionFall 2009 ranking: 75thFun fact: Without an election to fuel the news-based co... Show More »

Viewers: 5.4 millionFall 2009 ranking: 75thFun fact: Without an election to fuel the news-based comedy, "SNL's" short-run fall offering suffered badly. It was down better than 3 million viewers compared to last year's "Update Thursday" shows. « Less

18/21

'48 Hours Mystery' (CBS):

Viewers: 6.65 millionFall 2009 ranking: 65thFun fact: This is the third consecutive year the true-crime show ... Show More »

Viewers: 6.65 millionFall 2009 ranking: 65thFun fact: This is the third consecutive year the true-crime show has been among CBS' least-watched shows (but it still does better than a couple dozen shows on ABC, NBC and FOX). « Less

19/21

'Gary Unmarried' (CBS):

Viewers: 7.19 millionFall 2009 ranking: 58thFun fact: "Gary" is on par with its performance last season (7.24 m... Show More »

Viewers: 7.19 millionFall 2009 ranking: 58thFun fact: "Gary" is on par with its performance last season (7.24 million through the same week last year), which puts it squarely in the middle of the broadcast pack. « Less

20/21

'The New Adventures of Old Christine' (CBS):

Viewers: 7.33 millionFall 2009 ranking: 54thFun fact: For a show that's a constant su... Show More »

Viewers: 7.33 millionFall 2009 ranking: 54thFun fact: For a show that's a constant subject of cancellation/network-jumping rumors, "Christine" is awfully resilient. It's in its fifth season and approaching 80 episodes. « Less

Fun fact: It's the least-watched of CBS' Monday comedies, trailing "How I Met Your Mother" by a little over a million viewers. Still, the fact that a top-50 show is among CBS' weakest performers speaks to the overall health of the network's schedule. « Less